Near Boiler Plumbing for your review

tlowc34

See attached for Dunkirk near boiler plumbing idea. 2-1/2” risers with one turning back over the boiler to prevent the equalizer from hanging way out in space. 3” header pitched towards the equalizer leading up to a 3” main and into a 3”x1-1/2” elbow to the equalizer. Unions on the risers and returns.

Hap_Hazzard

The header could be bigger. 4" pipe has more cross-sectional area than 2 x 2½", so it will slow the velocity. Also, it's better to have longer boiler risers and shorter system risers to make it harder for water to reach the header, but these are just my preferences. What you have there is vastly better than a lot of systems out there that are somehow producing steam.

JStar

What size is the boiler?

tlowc34

I thought maybe a 4" would be overkill since there is only one main supply at 3" and the manual specifies a 2-1/2" regular header. Risers are definitely going to be as tall as possible. Sorry didn't draw the scale correctly. The boiler is PSB-8D which is 200MBTUH.

acwagner

Did you run the numbers for steam velocity?

I don't recall for your other posts, but how old is the boiler?

JUGHNE

You will want full sized tees at the outlets of the boiler for skimming and wand washing.

Hap_Hazzard

tlowc34 said:

I thought maybe a 4" would be overkill since there is only one main supply at 3" and the manual specifies a 2-1/2" regular header. Risers are definitely going to be as tall as possible. Sorry didn't draw the scale correctly. The boiler is PSB-8D which is 200MBTUH.

The purpose of the header is to reduce the steam velocity to allow the water to fall out of the stream. Once you've dried out the steam, it can go into a smaller main and speed up again without getting wet again.

I didn't actually do the velocity calculations, but that's the way to really decide how big is big enough. There are some resources on the site and in The Lost Art for doing these calculations.

tlowc34

I figured that's what the boiler manual was for, but I can definitely run the calculations. Boiler is a 2009. Got it about the Tees, I was going to only do one, with a full port ball valve that I unbolt the handle from when not in use.

JUGHNE

As you get ready to put the tee in place look inside and you may see reduced push nipples across the top sections. For skimming you want your full 2 1/2" tee but I would suggest a reducing coupling add to the skimming port. You want the water to rise above all the small internal push nipples before it comes out of the skim port. With full port you would get water only out of the closest section. Make sense?......besides a 2 1/2" ball valve is spendy.

acwagner

I'd say run the calculations before you commit. I prefer to run the calculations using 0 psig steam volume to be more accurate since most systems only run on an ounce or so when set up correctly.

JStar

At 200K gross input, I would choose a 4" header but you're still within close enough range with 3" to be near 20 ft/sec steam velocity.

tlowc34

With a 4” header is the take off for the main 3” the whole way from the tee on the header? Also, should I run a larger equalizer and go full size of the tapping? I think it’s 2-1/2”.

JStar

Yes, keep the main full size right off the header. Some folks make the first foot the same size as the header before reducing down, but at 3 inches and up, I haven't noticed it making a difference.

Equalizer sizing is a bit ambiguous. I almost always use the full size of whatever tapping is on the boiler, and no less than half the size of the header.